Well, that's interesting -- Apple has just posted an official statement on its site that says the white iPhone 4s have been "more challenging to manufacture than expected," and therefore won't be available until late July. No further statement is given, but it looks like if you were waiting until you get a white version of the new iPhone, you'll have to wait a little longer. That also explains why you couldn't preorder that color -- they weren't actually made yet.

As for what the challenge may be, we have no idea. Is it tough to make perfectly white material for that back panel? It could just be, of course, that Apple had some unforeseeable problem on a certain production line, leaving the white models in the lurch.

At any rate, Apple says that the "more popular" black models are good to go, so those will be ready in the stores tomorrow. But of course if Apple has only half of the models in stock, that too could affect availability. We'll have to see how things go tomorrow morning.